Will a Breast Lift Make my Breasts Look Smaller, or Larger?

It's really impossible to tell without seeing a photo. Breast lift surgery doesn't really reduce the size of your breasts so you shouldn't really get much smaller. 

A breast lift, or mastopexy, alone does not substantially change the size of your breasts, but will tighten the skin, lift them and make them appear more youthful and sometimes smaller. By tightening the skin, we usually try to distribute volume of the breast in an upward direction, and thus, obtaine fullness and round shape in the upper and lower parts of the breast. This can produce the impression of half a size bigger cup.In most cases breast lift can not be done without a breast reduction, these two prosedures are known as going hand-in-hand. A lift requires moving breast tissue, removing skin as well, and removing extra tissue to reduce the volume of the breast; so it's very close to a reduction procedure. That's why sometimes the breast may appear a little bit smaller in result of a lift, inspite of getting a natural rounded shape and more youthful look.It is important to understand, that the result of a breast lift depends very much on the degree of breast sagging, the amount of the excess skin and other factors, so in some cases breasts might have got the impression of bigger size and in some cases they may become smaller. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell if the breasts will look significantly smaller before the surgery has actually taken place. As all the women have different expectations regarding the result, some may feel dissatisfied with the overall size of their breasts. Some women find it possible to combine a breast lift and implants , but others don't.There are advantages and disadvantages of any choice, and it is important to understand all your options before you make a final decision.I hope this will help you.

A #mastopexy or breast lift operation is designed to improve the
shape and position of the breast swithout reducing their size. It is used for #breasts
which sag or droop (ptosis).  Some patients will have a better shape to their breast such as
increased superior fullness if an #implant is used at the time of mastopexy. This is called an
#Augmentation/Mastopexy.The procedure
can also be combined with a minor breast reduction to reduce the breast width
if desired. The surgery will create an elevated, more youthful breast contour.
Also, the procedure will create nipple and areolae of the desired size and at
the correct height.#FatGrafting is another option to using #breastimplants and
requires a small amount of liposuction to obtain the fat which is the prepared
and transferred to the breast.A hybrid operation may use both an implant and fat to provide
the best contours of the lifted breast.

It is not unusual
for the cup size to reduce by one with a breast lift. Often, a change of the breast implant profile with one that has more powerful projection can improve the appearance
and maintain the cup size without going to a greater volume.

You will lose very minimal volume with a mastopexy. Your implant should be big enough and I don't think you will notice any difference in size post op.

A breast lift is an incredible
procedure that improves the overall shape of the breast. It will remove the excess skin so that the
breast will have a tighter perkier appearance.
A breast lift typically does not remove very much volume from your
breast.


The lift will just improve the overall shape of
your breast. Sometimes patients that
have very long deflated breast feel like they are smaller after a lift because
their breasts have a very tight perky shape that they are not used to after
their surgery. Long droopy breasts tend to look larger than tight perky
breasts. This is why patients occasionally will feel, as their breasts are
smaller after breast lift even though no real breast volume has been
removed.

I would discuss your goals with a board
certified surgeon so that he or she can examine you and go over the pros and
cons of your breast lift surgery.

In general a breast lift makes the breasts appear larger.  With a lift minimal tissue is removed.  Also, the breast projects more rather than being spread out over a large surface area when they are droopy.

                  In
the vast majority of patients who undergo breast lift surgery the size of the
breasts isn’t changed. This occurs because in most cases breast lift surgery
only removes excess skin and in the majority of cases leaves the breast tissue
intact.

                  After
this procedure it’s not unusual for patients to feel as if their breasts have
increased in size. This occurs because the breast tissue is moved in a superior
direction. This results in greater upper breast fullness and more anterior
breast projection. This creates the illusion of a larger breast even though the
volume is unchanged.

                  It’s
important to discuss breast augmentation, breast lift and breast size with your
surgeon prior to surgery. Your surgeon should be able to give you an idea of
your ultimate size and alleviate your anxiety. 

A mastopexy or breast lift operation is designed to improve the shape and position of the breast without changing their size. Some patients will have a better shape to their breast such as increased fullness if an implant is inserted at the time of mastopexy.  There are also other choices for lifts such as a short scar of "lollipop" lift to minimize scarring. Bring in a representative photo of what you want to look like to your surgeon and they can make the decision about the size of the implant required.

Without photographs, I cannot tell the position of your breasts.  However, if you are interested in lifting, I assume they are descending down your chest wall.  The most important thing to do is plicate the pocket elevating your breasts higher on the chest wall.  At the same time, through a circumareola incision you will need another mastopexy.  Aligning the nipple, the remaining breast tissue and the implant higher on your chest wall will give the appearance of larger breasts even though the same implant is used.  I do not recommend larger implants since the additional weight will lead to further drooping.  If you implant had been placed in fron of the pectoral major muscle I would recommend placement behind the pectoral major muscle at this time.

Best of Luck,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Thanks for your question -

While a breast lift only removes a few grams of skin it can make breasts look smaller because they are not visually as long.  One trick that some patients find helpful in our San Francisco area practice is to stand in front of a mirror and place your hands on the superior part of your breasts and pull them upward.  You should be able to see that even though you haven't removed any breast tissue your breasts probably look a bit smaller, this can be similar to what can happen when you lift your breasts.
 

I hope this helps.